Governor under fire again over Water Commission appointment

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green is again under fire from local Hawaii farmers and environmentalists for his push to secure a nomination to the crucial state water commission.

Water rights advocates say he is not following the law and is manipulating the process to put a pro-development candidate in the place of a traditional water use expert.

The Water Commission decides who gets water from streams, often having to choose between local taro farmers and large landowners and developers. The governor’s decision to appoint a long-time plantation manager to select the next commissioner is causing resentment among many people.

James “Kimo” Falconer, a former plantation manager, interviewed candidates this week for the Water Commission post as an expert on Native Hawaiian water and agricultural practices and traditional culture.

Falconer was added to the nominating committee by the governor even though he said he was asked to withdraw as a candidate for the commission seat earlier this year.

His ongoing and prominent role is to galvanize advocates for power restoration.

Wayne Tanaka of the Sierra Club of Hawaii said Falconer’s business activities conflicted with his role in the selection process.

“Mr. “Falconer has direct business relationships with luxury residential developers and agricultural properties that are in direct competition with Hawaiian cultural practitioners and farmers,” Tanaka said.

That competition is fierce on Maui, where Falconer owns a Kaanapali coffee farm that competes for river water with taro farmers like Kekai Keahi.

“You can see the conflict there,” Keahi said, “and if he’s the person making a decision or choosing what gets put on the governor’s desk for people, we smell a fish.”

Respected community leader Archie Kalepa had his executive assistant, Melissah Shishido, read a statement to the four-member nominating committee.

“The inclusion of Kimo Falconer in the nomination committee raises the specter of conflict, raising fears that the process may not be impartial,” Kalepa’s statement said.

Falconer told Hawaii News Now that he actually agrees with water rights advocates that there isn’t enough river water on West Maui for large-scale agriculture and that new water sources need to be found for development.

He said he agreed that he was not an expert in traditional cultural practices but that he had sufficient knowledge to assist in selecting a candidate.

The governor has already been criticized for the long delay in the nomination and the resumption of the process.

The commission seat was vacated in July. A nominating committee provided the governor with a list of four names in February, hoping he would name a new commissioner in time for confirmation by the Senate in the session that ends in May.

But after the meeting, the governor’s office said two candidates had dropped out of the race and that the governor could not make the appointment because the law requires a slate of three.

Water rights advocates said the governor misinterpreted the law and that he could still have made the appointment from the two remaining candidates, both of whom were supported by advocates.

But in a recent appearance on KITV, the governor provided a more detailed account of the process.

“The first name that I thought was good somehow didn’t meet the standards of some activists on Maui and the water rights community, so that person wasn’t chosen,” Green said.

“Then the second person became frightened by the process and pulled out their name, leaving only two names left,” he continued. “These two people are very good, but they have caused a lot of conflict and I don’t want conflict because I want us to have good water practices for our local community and build housing. So I couldn’t just do it with those two names.”

Tanaka, president of the Sierra Club, said this statement makes it clear that the governor did not select a candidate because he was unhappy with the three candidates, including Falconer.

“Such shifting narratives only suggest that there are other things going on. There are other factors that influence his decision that he may not want to make public, and that is disappointing because there is actually a deep public interest in how our water is managed and how our water law is implemented, and that requires a high level of transparency and accountability,” Tanaka said.

“It’s obvious he’s really listening to the development community and telling them what to do with the only water commission seat that’s supposed to address water management and Native Hawaiian cultural practices,” Tanaka said.

According to sources, the governor has already received a list of nominees from the committee. Depending on how advocates react to his decision, the next battle could be confirmation in the state Senate or in court.

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